By Zephyria 
As sооn as Woо-yeоn finishеd sреаking, thе classrооm fillеd with the sound оf applаuse. Тhe рrofеssor, аlsо lоoking satisfiеd, was writing sоmething on the grаding sheet. Onlу Jun-seong glarеd at Wоо-yeon, his facе flushing red and blue with rаgе.
“Тhе idеa was frеsh… and thе сontent wаs substаntial and good. Yоur prеsеntation mаnnеr wаs ехcеllеnt as wеll.”
The idea had beеn Woo-уeon’s, аnd the script hаd beеn written by Dо-hуun. Seon-kуu had handlеd the missing dаtа, and Gа-rаm had рut in thе hard wоrk fоr thе PPТ, but Wоo-уеоn hаd simply mixed in the names of the other group members instead of those three.
“But… does this group have four members?”
The professor asked this while marking something on the grading sheet. Presumably, he was recording the role each member had taken. Woo-yeon answered calmly, without looking toward Jun-seong.
“I couldn’t get in touch with the member who was supposed to make the PPT, so I had no choice but to remove their name.”
“Was this matter agreed upon by all group members?”
“Yes.”
“Professor!”
As soon as Woo-yeon answered, Jun-seong bolted upright from his seat. Clank. At the loud noise, the professor frowned and looked over. Unable to hide his angry face, Jun-seong spoke urgently.
“I am Kang Jun-seong from the Business Administration department, the leader of Group 1. I think there’s been some kind of mistake…”
“We are still in class, so I will not listen to that. If you have a complaint, discuss it with your group members and then come to my office.”
For once, Woo-yeon thought it served him right. Jun-seong had asserted that the professor would never listen, yet here he was in that exact position. Jun-seong looked aggrieved, but when the professor called the next group, he sat back down with a bright red face.
As he returned to his seat, the students whispered while looking at Woo-yeon and Jun-seong. They had clearly overheard the squabble between the two before the presentation and were questioning the situation. If left alone, rumors would spread, but none of them would take Jun-seong’s side. To be precise, they wouldn’t take either person’s side.
Woo-yeon knew how terrifying public indifference could be. While Jun-seong was in the wrong this time, there likely would have been no one to step forward even if Woo-yeon had unilaterally removed his name. Conversely, it would have been the same if Jun-seong had removed Woo-yeon’s name.
Throughout the presentations of the other groups, Jun-seong kept his head down, his shoulders trembling. Had he not been an Omega, pheromones full of rage would have surely leaked out. Woo-yeon rested his chin on his hand, pretending to focus on the presentations without giving Jun-seong a single glance.
“Everyone did better than I expected.”
The presentations finally ended after filling the entire hour and a half. The professor flipped through the reports for a moment and told them to email the PPTs. While mentioning that grades would be announced later, the professor looked toward Woo-yeon.
“And Group 1.”
Woo-yeon straightened his posture and gazed at the professor. He wondered if it was about removing Jun-seong’s name, but the professor brought up a different topic.
“It was perfect. There weren’t many among the Seonbaes who did this well; did you happen to see some kind of leaked exam or guide?”
For a moment, Woo-yeon hesitated over whether to mention Do-hyun. He wondered if his grade would be docked if he said a Seonbae helped him, but his mouth moved on its own.
“Kim Do-hyun Seonbae from the English department…”
“Ah, Do-hyun.”
Fortunately, the professor didn’t look displeased. Rather, the moment he heard Do-hyun’s name, he nodded with a satisfied expression. He added that the young man was very diligent in everything he did and asked Woo-yeon to send his regards if he had the chance.
It wasn’t even a major course, but a general elective taken by many. As he had felt during course registration, Do-hyun’s school life was admirable in many ways.
“There won’t be any assignments for a while, so everyone get some good rest and I’ll see you next week.”
As the professor concluded the class, Jun-seong hurriedly approached the podium. He said something to the professor and, after receiving permission, operated the laptop. The professor, who had been quietly stroking his chin while looking at the screen, looked up with a frown.
“Student Seon Woo-yeon, come see me for a moment.”
* * *
The professor’s office contained one large desk and a multi-person table. The bookshelves attached to the wall were packed with all sorts of major textbooks, and there was a water purifier and a potted plant in one corner, giving it a somewhat cozy atmosphere.
“So… Student Kang Jun-seong did the assignment, and you removed his name?”
The professor looked exhausted, frowning deeply and even taking off his glasses. He shook his head, saying that these kinds of things happened every year without fail. Jun-seong stood with his hands behind his back, speaking in an aggrieved voice.
“As I showed you earlier, I clearly produced the PPT. The delivery was just a bit late, but I think it’s too much to just remove my name.”
“Well… I see. Student Seon Woo-yeon, do you have anything to say?”
Without a word, Woo-yeon took out his phone and approached the professor. When he opened the group chat and held it out, the professor narrowed his eyes.
“I asked for the PPT several times, but there was no reply. If he had said he was at least working on it, I would have waited, but since he unilaterally ignored the messages, I received the materials from the other members. To say it was ‘a bit late,’ there was no contact with me until the day of the presentation.”
Glancing over, Jun-seong was keeping his mouth shut with a flustered face. His eyes darted around as if trying to make an excuse, but it seemed no suitable excuse came to mind. To him, the professor drove the point home in a cold voice.
“I don’t know the circumstances, but looking at this, it’s true that you ignored the messages. Regardless of other things, if you took on the role of group leader, you should have communicated with a sense of responsibility.”
“But Professor, I did the assignment…”
“In terms of the quality of the work alone, Student Seon Woo-yeon’s is undoubtedly higher. What you made is something that could be implemented in a day or two.”
In truth, Woo-yeon had also made it in two days, but the professor would never dream of knowing that. Judging by the sharp look in Jun-seong’s eyes, he seemed to think that Woo-yeon had been preparing to screw him over from the start.
“There’s nothing more I can say, so reach an agreement among the group members. If you two come back before the next class, I’ll take it into consideration for leniency.”
As if he had nothing more to say, the professor waved his hand. Woo-yeon bowed politely and left the office without looking back. Before the door closed, he heard Kang Jun-seong, unable to let go of his lingering resentment, protesting to the professor.
“I clearly did with the other members…”
Click. As soon as the door closed, the sound from inside was completely cut off. The soundproofing is good. Woo-yeon walked toward the stairs, thinking a pointless thought. Checking his phone belatedly, he saw messages from his group members.
“….”
Woo-yeon slowly stopped walking as soon as he saw the contents of the messages. Things like saying the presentation went really well, or that they would work hard next time. Amidst sentences that were clearly just polite formalities, exactly four words caught his eye.
You worked hard.
It was the first time. The first time he had done an assignment and heard someone tell him he worked hard. Instead of curses saying he ruined everything, he heard a thank you saying he saved them.
‘Everything is ruined because of that pig.’
‘Hey, fuck, you can’t even do that much?’
‘The fact that that bastard removed our names too…’
It felt as if a heavy stone was stuck in his throat. The stone lodged in the hollow below his Adam’s apple was hard and even hot. Unable to swallow, Woo-yeon bit hard into the inside of his cheek.
‘Useless bastard.’
Woo-yeon by no means thought the group members had done well. He just hadn’t thought of tormenting them like he did Jun-seong; in the end, they had just ridden his coattails. To be moved by a mere “you worked hard,” the person he should share this emotion with was someone else.
However, the moment he saw the words “worked hard,” Woo-yeon recalled one fact he had been barely managing to ignore. That for the three years he attended middle school, he had been treated as less than a pig.
“….”
His stomach churned and twisted. He felt like he might vomit, and he felt like he might cry a little. He thought that if the Teacher were in front of him, he might collapse and sob uncontrollably like he had once before.
“Hey, Seon Woo-yeon!”
However, Woo-yeon couldn’t indulge in long sentiments and snapped back to his senses. This was because Jun-seong was approaching as if running, accompanied by loud, thumping footsteps. Whether from the conversation in the professor’s office, his face was bright red with rage.
“You fucking…”
Jun-seong grabbed Woo-yeon by the collar without warning. Because he pushed him back violently, the back of Woo-yeon’s head slammed against the wall. Woo-yeon clenched his teeth, feeling a ringing pain in his skull.
“Ugh…”
For a moment, his vision bleached white. He didn’t know for sure, but he thought he might have been concussed at this rate. Jun-seong breathed heavily, releasing a flood of pheromones that had become intensely fierce.
“Hey, does it feel good to screw me over like this?”
Woo-yeon barely managed to raise one hand and grab Jun-seong’s wrist. He was so angry that the pheromones pouring out of him, despite being an Omega, were no joke. Feeling his already upset stomach flip a bit, Woo-yeon twisted Jun-seong’s wrist outward.
“Ack…”
With a grotesque cracking sound, Jun-seong stepped back powerlessly. It was a pathetic reaction for someone who had been so high and mighty, but instead of sneering, Woo-yeon let out a dry cough. His head was still Ding-ing, so he figured he had hit it quite hard.
“Fuck, let go!”
Jun-seong spat out a curse and shook off Woo-yeon’s hand. Since Woo-yeon had no intention of holding on longer, he let go obediently and rubbed the back of his head. Sure enough, he felt a throbbing pain where he had hit the wall.
“…Ha, seriously.”
Rarely, Woo-yeon chewed on a curse in a low voice. He was someone who rarely let his emotions run high, but being grabbed by the collar out of nowhere made him angry. Pheromones that crept out pressed down heavily on Jun-seong.
“Fuck, you…”
Jun-seong stopped mid-sentence and gasped for air. It was because the pheromones shimmering in the air pressed his lungs flat. Without any intention of containing his pheromones, Woo-yeon took a step toward him.
“What did I do?”
It had been a very long time since he had been angry to the top of his head. No, for the first time in his life, he was so heated that his reason flew away. He was the one who had been so aggrieved he felt like going crazy, so why did this bastard keep acting like the victim?
“What the fuck did I do, you piece of shit?”
Saying so, Woo-yeon grabbed Jun-seong by the collar.